While primarily focused on national issues, the Council of Canadians also does international work through its Blue Planet Project,[3] which focuses on the implementation of the human right to water and sanitation.

For the 2011-2012 fiscal year the Council received 92 percent of its funding from members and supporters who gave an average of $54.59.[10] An additional seven percent of the annual budget came from foundation grants.[11]

The Council of Canadians receives no money from governments or corporations, however it makes no such claims regards funding it receives from organizations such as labour unions or environmental activist groups.[1]

On April 14, 2014 a report by Sun News Network accused the Council of Canadians of receiving money from American-based organizations to oppose Canadian energy projects.[12] The Council of Canadians responded on its website.[13]

In September 2016 the organization launched a boycott of Nestlé in response to the company outbidding a small town aiming to secure a long-term water supply through a local well, stressing the need for bottled water industry reform as the country battles drought and depletion of ground water reserves.[16][17][18][19]

On November 20, 2014 Brigette DePape, a Vancouver-based organizer with the Council of Canadians, was arrested with over fourteen others by the RCMP at Burnaby Mountain while protesting against Texas-based Kinder Morgan over the company's Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project. The protestors were arrested for "civil contempt” of a court order permitting the company's pipeline survey work.[22] All charges were subsequently dismissed.[23]